Above the Treetops

"The Barbican," watercolor on paper, abt 8x12

This watercolor is a view of an iconic local condominum tower located in an older part of Des Moines. Our sketch group was invited to the home of friends not far from there, for a Saturday brunch. After quiche, sweet rolls, and the rest of a delightful brunch we sketched from their fourth floor deck. I chose this view partly because a couple of patrons of mine lived in the penthouse a few years ago. 

In this sketch I decided to use only watercolor and a graphite under drawing. The day was grey and a bit rainy. Many thanks to Lorraine and Tom May for their hospitality. 

Fall in the Park

"Fall in the Park," wc/ink on paper, 5x7

This small watercolor is a view of Greenwood Park here in Des Moines. The blocky square shape is part of an in situ construction by the British artist Andy Goldsworthy, which comprise a group of four. I painted this from a reference of mine from a couple of days ago. As ever I began with a graphite sketch, painted colors into that, then accented with ink. 
 

In Greenwood Park

Greenwood Park is a 80 acre plot of land here in Des Moines, situated on two or three miles west of downtown. As it happens, the park is the oldest in the city, dedicated in 1894, and the home of the Des Moines Art Center since 1948. Its rolling acres include recreational areas, a big pond, an al fresco theater and a beautiful rose garden. It's also where our Saturday sketch group meets. 

"In the Rose Garden Pavilion," watercolor and ink on paper, 8x11

Last Saturday several of us elected to sketch in the park, mostly in the rose garden area behind the Art Center. The rose garden has a central area of open pavilions at its southern end, so I sat in one of them to draw. My afternoon was enhanced by a local trumpet player who was practicing nearby; we had a lovely conversation. This particular watercolor and ink painting is a little different from some of my previous work. I painted the landscape but not the interior of the pavilion, which frames the view. The idea is to contrast the highly graphic ink drawing of stone and wood to the bright fall colors outside.  

As ever this began as a graphite drawing in my sketchbook, followed by watercolor, then ink. 

Scary Clown

A lot of people seem to be frightened by clowns. This particular fellow was part of a digital painting experiment using different digital tools. The program that I used was Sketchbook, which is still available online. It's a fairly intuitive program that emulates real world mark-making pretty well. That is, a "pencil" puts down a mark that actually resembles a graphite mark; similarly an "airbrush" tool makes a diffuse mark with fading edges, just the way an airbrush might. And of course you can set size, value, color and background easily. Further, if you make a mistake you can simply delete and redo. Overall it makes drawing and painting pleasureable. 

 

Autumn Color on the Creek

Autumn is flirting with us here in the upper Midwest. Trees here and there are fading from green to yellow or golden, and once in awhile you see a red fringe on maple leaves and sumac. A few days this time of year ia all that it takes for the colors to cascade into a myriad of shades of yellows, reds, oranges, and so on. 

"Across the Creek," watercolor, about 11x8

This watercolor is a view from my studio into the woods across Druid Hill Creek. I stood at my work table and made a rough sketch with soft graphite. After that I charged right in with watercolor. This time I was testing some synthetic watercolors called Qor ("core") that are considerably more opaque than traditional watercolors because of their artificial binder. Traditional colors are compounded with gum arabic, which holds less pigment than the synthetic these are made with. That means these paints have a considerably higher pigment concentration, hence more opacity. That allows darker values. You can actually layer lighter colors over darker ones with these paints, too.

Travel Sketch

"The Kasbah, Tangier," watercolor with ink

For many years I've kept a travel diary with sketches, or simply made a group of sketches, when we've gone on short or extended trips. This particular sketch is one of a group of postcard-size watercolors I made during a Mediterranean cruise. During a shore excursion in Tangier we visited the Kasbah, a storied quarter of the city that is very much the same as it has been for centuries. The streets are too narrow and convoluted for automobiles, many too narrow ever for motorbikes. The light plays through the complex architecture and lights corners and windows. The blue is a very common color.  

As I often do, I mailed this one to a friend back in the States, making it not only an artwork but an artifact, complete with stamp. 

Early Fall

"Early Fall, Druid Hill Creek," watercolor on paper, 5x7

This new watercolor was done from the window of my home studio, looking north along the course of "my" creek. Unlike many other watercolors posted here, I didn't use ink but instead employed fine-pointed studio brushes instead of the waterbrushes I use in the field. I did rough in a bit of graphite, mostly to define tree trunks and the railing on the left. Otherwise when line work was needed I mixed a near-black and employed brushes to carry an intensely dark pigment load. Using a sharply pointed brush made forming leaf shapes and thin lines much easier.